Prep baseball: Longtime Little League coach Hasse to throw out ceremonial first pitch

April 10, 2012|By Steve Foley | News-Review sports writer

He has a passion, a gift for teaching, and a calm simple way of connecting.

Petoskey High School baseball coach Shawn Racignol will never forget those long hot summer afternoons off in a bullpen working on his pitching as a Little Leaguer with Duane Hasse.

“My memories are great,” Racignol said of Hasse, a longtime Petoskey Little League coach and supporter who is battling leukemia. “Working as a 9-year-old up until I was 12, that was the most time I ever spent with him. We’d work on the changeup, follow through, and all the fundamentals of pitching. He was just a huge influence on me as well as a lot of other people through the years.”

Today, Tuesday, Hasse will be recognized prior to the start of Petoskey’s season-opening doubleheader against Mancelona at Turcott Field. Hasse will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at approximately 4:15 p.m.

Hasse, 74, was diagnosed with leukemia last year and later diverticulosis and has been in and out of Mayo Clinics in Minnesota and Florida, the Moffit Cancer Center in Florida and other Hospice Centers before making his way back home in Petoskey, where the former Consumer Assistant Manager at Wickes Lumber in Petoskey and then Gaylord still receives treatment on a biweekly basis.

“It’s a great opportunity to recognize someone that’s been a big influence in the lives of a lot of people for a number of years,” Racignol said. “I know he and my dad had a very good relationship all the way through Little League. During All-Star practice, my dad would tell us Mr. Hasse would be coming the next day at practice and I know every kid would look forward to having him there.”

Hasse moved to Petoskey from Alpena in 1981 and spent the ensuing 20-plus years teaching the art of pitching to legions of youngsters through the Little League program. Hasse possessed a knack for getting the very best out of nearly every kid he worked with, many of whom looked to Hasse almost as “a father figure,” according to his son, Brad.

“He just had a knack for it and it was just the way he approached it,” Brad Hasse said. “And he had a lot of kids that had a lot of success.”

Brad Hasse said his dad, who throughout the summer became a popular figure around Turcott Field working with pitchers or standing outside the fence by the Petoskey dugout flashing signs to his pitchers and catchers and encouraging them, is the type of person who would give you the shirt off his back.

“He’s not a guy who went hunting or fishing,” Brad Hasse said. “He worked, then he went to the ball field.”

Hasse said countless former Petoskey players such as Racignol, Michael Royalty, Adam Foltz, Matt Hall and Harry Dixon — who called Hasse like a dad to him — and others all shared special connections with him.

“He just connected to a lot of people,” he said. “He’s a pretty humble guy and he’s never liked to be someone who’s made to be a big deal about.”

Hasse said his father has been showing signs of improvement recently, as now Vital Care visits Duane in his home every other week.

“He’s doing better and they check his blood every 7-10 days,” Hasse said. “He’s strong enough now to where he can walk and I was concerned about that over the winter.”

Racignol said he always remembers Duane Hasse as someone who was always there to lend a hand, whether it was raking a field or working with kids.

“He was never the manager of an All-Star team and he never wanted to be one,” Racignol said. “It was just assumed he would be working with the pitchers, he was that good. His passion was working with young kids in the bullpen and he had a gift for it.

“His other passion was his family. He’s a tremendous example as a father and a great example of being a family man.”

Former Petoskey News-Review sports editor Jerry Rosevear, who coached with Hasse and Tom Fettig when Rosevear’s son, Ryan, played Little League, said Hasse is an all-around good guy.

“He had a unique way of handling his players and anybody that’s ever coached with him will tell you he was a gentleman at all times,” Rosevear said. “He was a nice ambassador for the game of baseball too.”